Montreal Canadiens

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Ivan Demidov Skates in Brossard This Morning
Félix Forget
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Ivan Demidov Skates in Brossard This Morning
Credit: Mélanie M.

The Canadiens are currently in Toronto ahead of tonight's game. As a reminder, they'll face the Maple Leafs at 7 p.m.

That means there was obviously no practice in Brossard this morning. However, in reality, some players skated there anyway.

Mélanie M., a reader of the site, was on the scene this morning and saw three injured players take to the ice. The first was Ivan Demidov.

We know the Russian has skated twice this week and is clearly continuing to make progress. So it's good news to see him on the ice.

He doesn't seem to be completely comfortable yet, but he's getting there.

Afterward, Samuel Montembeault also took to the ice. It was clear that the Quebec-born goaltender was better able to get back on his feet while moving around.

That's a positive sign for him.

And finally, Mike Matheson also took to the ice. Remember that the defenseman is still expected to be out for another week according to the initial timeline.

It's likely that the Canadiens, given that their team is in Toronto, took advantage of the fact that there would be less attention on Brossard to let their players skate this morning.

And that allowed the die-hard fans who showed up in Brossard to see the three guys skate.

Overtime

Looking at it, the three guys seem to be getting closer to a return. Remember that Demidov has already exceeded his timeline (and that the Habs have come up with a new policy regarding this), that Montembeault is day-to-day, and that Matheson should be back within a week.

So we should expect all of them to be back by the end of the month—and, in the best-case scenario, a little sooner than that.